Davos, Switzerland. Image source: Eugene Kaspersky via Flickr
Communications executives at the Davos 2017 gathering of global business leaders and government officials said they must do a better job at listening to the public.
The elite leaders were taken off guard, even disoriented, by Brexit and Donald Trump’s election. The unexpected events contradicted their ideals of globalization and economic liberalism,says Arum Sudhaman, editor-in-chief of Holmes Report.
“Communicators should already be keenly aware of the importance of listening,” Sudhaman says. “Yet it seems clear that business and political elites were woefully unprepared for the level of discontent with the Davos world order.” The unexpected events prove that basic public relations principles, such as empathy, authentic behavior and purpose, are more important than ever.
Tuning In to Public Opinion
PR and corporate leaders spoke of the need to become more in tuned with their audiences, better understand the public and regain trust.
“We as a business need to understand the sentiment about disaffection that have led us to a dramatically changed geopolitical landscape,” said eBay chief communications officer Dan Tarman. “Communicators need to truly understand what people are feeling and why. I think to the extent that there is and was a disconnect between mass sentiment and opinion leaders — maybe it speaks to a fundamental lack of empathy.”
Corporate PR and communications departments are best-situated to listen to the public, track shifting public opinion and relay that information to corporate leaders. PR departments typically oversee media monitoring and measurement tools that collect and analyze a wealth of information from social media and other online sources. Given that unique place in the corporate structure, they have a responsibility to represent the outside world inside their companies.
To get a broader view, PR departments need to conduct wider media searches that don’t solely focus on their parochial search terms such as corporate and brand names. Including search terms that encompass issues of concern to their business and searching publications outside their normal reading list can help capture a wider perspective on consumer opinion. Today, online monitoring tools don’t charge per clip fees. There is no additional cost for broader searches and services such as Glean.info offer easy ways to automatically segregate and organize clips on different topics into different folders. The services also make it easy to assemble executive briefings on different topics and delivered via email.
Tools for Better Listening
Social media analytics has become more powerful and accurate. Social media measurement revealed that Trump was gaining positive sentiment as the election approached. Analytics firms noticed that a growing number of swing voters were engaging with Trump’s messages on social media. Some noted an increase in positive sentiment toward the candidate.
“Analysts monitoring the social media activity of both campaigns on the major social media channels saw the outcome of this election coming months ago, and kept talking about the massive silent voter base that was forming around the Republican nominee,” Phil Ross, a social media analyst at Socialbakers, told TechCruch. “Social media analysts continually sounded the alarm that all of the polls were not reflecting the actual situation on the ground in the pre-election landscape.”
In addition to offering a measure of corporate and brand reputation, monitoring of news and social media can provide insights that help businesses better understand consumer sentiment on key issues and the trending direction of those opinions.
Bottom Line: Stunned by unexpected political events, top corporate executives at Davos 2017 said their organizations must do a better job listening to the public and understanding public opinion. PR departments can best accomplish that task, as they serve as a conduit between social media analytics and corporate leaders.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
